F12 30-F6 61 Sep 10 Heffering
8/11/06
11:23 AM
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Among the visionary cowmen . . .
There is only one Pete Heffering
V
ISION. It was a sixth sense the gifted Pete
Heffering had when it came to evaluating,
developing, and breeding cows. His Hanover
Hill Holstein herd has earned 144 All-American
and 90 All-Canadian nominations which resulted
in 31 All-American, 33 Reserve All-American, 23
All-Canadian, and 24 Reserve All-Canadian
award winners. And for six consecutive years beginning in 1983, Hanover Hill was Premier Breeder at both World Dairy Expo and the Royal Winter Fair. Brookview Tony Charity, the cornerstone,
was four times Grand Champion at both shows
and four times Supreme Champion at World Dairy
Expo. The herd also has proven an impressive 177
bulls in Canada — including Starbuck, Inspiration, and Raider.
Hoard’s Dairyman visited with Pete to reflect
on his 55-year career that has taken him from the
pinnacle of dairy cattle breeding to a new profession as a very successful breeder and owner of
standardbred horses.
When did you first realize you wanted to
make a career in the dairy industry?
Growing up, I wasn’t a farm boy. My father was
a doctor. He had a couple brothers who were interested in agriculture. One had a dairy; another
one was in the thoroughbred horse business.
Although I really didn’t know much about the
purebred game, I did start showing cattle during
the summer in Vermont when I was 13. I did
quite well in the 4-H aspect of showing in Hartland, Vt. I really enjoyed that. It really got into my
since. We had sales in 1985, 1987, 1989, and then
had a complete dispersal in 1998.
When you began your career at the Beacon
Milling Research Farm, you developed daughters of Amcana Dictator Model that went on
to become All-American Get of Sire. One of
those cows, Maroy Model Abbekerk, was voted
All-Time All-American 4-year-old in the early
‘60s. What do you recall from working with
these first of many All-Americans?
I was lucky enough to get involved with the
Amcana Dictator Models. They were the catalyst
for my success. They were just super quality cows,
tremendous dairy cows.
In that All-American Get of Sire, three of the
four cows were individual All-Americans themselves in one year or another. Abbekerk, Postenhill Model Bubbles, and Crest Lane Model Faith
were their names. Maroy Model Abbekerk was
special . . . she was an exceptional cow for her day.
I mean udder-wise, she was a tremendous uddered
cow, especially going back that many years. Abbekerk was nominated for All-American seven times.
This year’s National Dairy Shrine Guest of
Honor, Dr. Lee Allenstein, called you a great
cowman because of your “vision.” Can you describe your vision?
I’m just one of many successful cowmen. Everybody talks about a sixth sense. I think the great
athletes or whoever is extremely successful have
a sixth sense. My God-given sixth sense is visualizing what a cow might look like after you’ve developed her for a year or so. Being able to say, I
think in a year this cow
that’s 85 can really be a
93- or 94-point cow. That’s
done by visualizing, getting her fed and filled out,
working with her feet and
legs, and so forth.
The first time I saw
the Charity cow, actually Dave Younger was
with me, we went into
the barnyard. She was
stale and had a hock
with a bump on it. I just
took a look at her and
said, “Dave, we have to
get this cow.”
The owner was willing
to consign her. ThankCHARITY WAS FOUR TIMES GRAND CHAMPION at the Royal Winter Fair and four times fully, he wasn’t as excitSupreme Champion at World Dairy Expo. In 1982, she became the first-ever cow to be Grand ed about her as I . . . and
Champion at all three U.S. national shows in one year. That year, Hanover Hill traveled over I was trying not to be
8,000 miles in 65 days to exhibit at the three U.S. national shows and the Royal Winter Fair.
excited outwardly. That
was tough. We got her
blood and it kind of stayed in my blood all
consigned to the Designer Fashion Sale, and
throughout my dairy career.
George Morgan and I bought her. I thought she
After high school, I enrolled at State Universihad great potential. (At a later date, Pete bought
ty New York-Canton and graduated in 1951 with
out George’s interest.) Not to say I haven’t been
a degree in animal husbandry which turned out
wrong at times because nobody guesses right all
well for me. (In 2004, Pete was awarded the firstthe time.
ever doctrate from the University.) Then I went
I think it was a God-given gift to be able to see
to work for the Beacon Milling Company Rea cow in the rough. Who knows how many calls
search Farm which had a purebred Holstein herd.
I ever had where someone said, “This is a great
How did your career develop?
cow; come and take a look at her.” You go look at
In 1961, I leased Danboro Holstein Farm, Dan100 of them and 99 of them wouldn’t be what you
boro, Pa., owned by Frank Goodyear. We were
hoped they were going be.
What is your favorite show-ring memory?
only there 15 months and he sold that place.
There are so many. Of course, Charity being four
Next I went to Tara Hill Farms in Millbrook,
times Supreme Champion. She is the only cow to
N.Y., in 1962. We stayed there until we had the
this day to be four times Grand Champion at the
sale in March 1968.
Royal Winter Fair and four times Supreme ChamThen we leased what was the second Hanover
pion at World Dairy Expo. In 1982, she also beHill Farm that housed Holsteins in Amenia, N.Y.
came the first cow to be Grand Champion at all
We were there until we sold out in 1972. Then I
three U.S. national shows in the same year.
bought the farm here in Port Perry, Ontario,
There were lots of highlights. Being Premier
Canada in 1973. We’ve been residing here ever
EXPO 30
Breeder always meant a lot to me. We were Premier Breeder six straight years at the Royal and
World Dairy Expo. That was special.
There are other highlights. But those have to
be at the top of the list.
You’ve worked with many great cows. Who’s
your favorite?
That’s a tough one. It’s not often you can say
that you had five or six cows that developed families that became known worldwide. Of course
there is the Roxy family. Today, the Roxy family
may be more popular than it was 15 years ago. In
our Hanover Hill Legacy sale
that the boys put on this July,
the first 20 lots in the catalog
trace directly back to Roxy.
That says quite a bit. (That
sale on July 22 averaged
$20,079 on 67 lots.)
Star Lulu, she had a lot of
Heffering
good daughters. John’s Lucky
Barb had a big influence early
on. We had all kinds of family members. The Marq
I Papoose family, that did lots of things for us.
But the purchase of Roxette, the daughter of
Roxy, at the national convention sale turned out
to be a momentous thing for us.
Your Hanover Hill Sale in 1972 was the first
dispersal to bring more than $1 million. That
day, Tara-Hills Pride Lucky Barb set a worldrecord price of $122,000. Then in 1985, the
Hanover Hill herd brought over $7 million
with Brookview Tony Charity selling for $1.45
million, still a Canadian record. There also
was the record-setting 1983 Designer Fashion
Sale which averaged $145,000 on 62 lots on the
red carpet at Madison Square Garden in New
York, N.Y. What have you learned about having
a successful sale?
1. You have got to have quality product.
2. You have to market them.
Of course, the market itself comes into play. We
did enjoy some extremely good years with investment buyers. Unfortunately the Holstein Association really didn’t do much to endear themselves to
those people. Still they put a lot of money into the
industry and I had the luxury of being involved
with the investment era. This era made it possible
to put on some first-class sales with good cattle.
We were able to really do things up right.
The sale at Madison Square Garden in New
York City was quite expensive. I remember the
catering bill alone was $157,000. That was more
than the gross of many sales. The investment era
is a time that we’re never likely to see again.
What is your favorite memory from sales?
The aura created by good sales. Working those
sales with outstanding auctioneers, ringmen, sales
crews, and great cattle can be exhilarating.
The aura of the Charity cow selling was my favorite memory. That was a special sale. There
were a lot of great cattle and great people here
from all over the world. We were fortunate.
It was a lot of work but we always tried to do a
complete package . . . having the cattle look right,
having the farm look right, having strong auction crews, trying to have everything as good as
we could have it, and doing a top job of advertising and marketing.
You bred many great bulls including Starbuck, Inspiration, Raider, Lieutenant, and
Triple Threat. Who was your favorite?
Starbuck obviously . . . his worldwide impact
is tremendous. There’s an article in Canada which
talks about Starbuck being in 93 percent of Canadian Holstein pedigrees. And, of course, many of
his sons and grandsons have gone onto greatness.
(Continued on page EXPO 61)
HOARD’S DAIRYMAN
F12 30-F6 61 Sep 10 Heffering
8/17/06
2:42 PM
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Circle No. 37 on Reader Response Card
Starbuck not only contributed
through his sons but his daughters,
as well. Many of them have become
great brood cows.
Triple Threat ranks right up
there. Number one, he was the first
recessive Red Holstein that ever got
any notoriety. Of course, it was early
in the Red game. His influence
around the world was great. Doug
Maddox of Ruann Dairy in California traveled in Europe a great deal.
He said Triple Threat was the one
bull that could take cows whose
dams scored in the 60s then make
a daughter Good Plus or even Very
Good. He could raise the level of
conformation that much.
And, of course, Triple Threat
daughters made some great brood
cows. I have had more than one
person say, “My success in breeding cattle was because of the great
daughters of Triple Threat that I
had in my herd.”
Obviously, a lot of bulls had influence. But if you’re just picking
one or two, it has to be Starbuck
and Triple Threat in my mind.
Ken Travena was a working
partner for 48 years. How did
you work as a team to achieve
this success?
Ken is still with me. We couldn’t
have had our success without him.
He was probably more important
than I when you
consider the success of our cows.
To this day, we’re
working together, and we’ve
been together
since he came to
Beacon in 1958.
Travena
Ken is a great
cowman. Most good cowmen aren’t
good with machinery, but he can do
it all. He is an exceptional cowman
and farm manager.
Obviously, I had to be on the road
quite a bit the further we got into
this thing. I was on the road finding cattle, buying cattle, and going
to sales and shows. I always felt
that if there was a problem at the
farm and Ken couldn’t figure it out,
I sure couldn’t be of help.
It’s still that way today. We’re not
milking cows anymore. We’re in the
horse game now. He’s still doing
everything that he always did. We
really complement each other. His
strengths and my strengths
matched up quite well. I’m salesand marketing-orientated, and he
was about keeping the cattle
healthy. You can’t have successful
show cows unless they’re getting
year-round care. It doesn’t all happen the week before a show.
What advice would you offer to
young people who want to develop a quality herd?
I’d rather have one good cow, one
good heifer, or one good family and
develop them as best I can with
embryo transfer. One good cow can
make you successful financially
and get you known worldwide.
Meanwhile, 100 mediocres can do
nothing for you really — they’ll
produce cash flow through milk.
You take a fellow like Matt
September 10, 2006
Nunes, of Chippewa Falls, Wis.,
who bought Tony Rae in our sale
for $15,000 as a calf. That one cow
has literally made him more money
than he ever thought of making
with all the other cows he’s owned
in his life. She flushed, the daughters and granddaughters flushed,
and the family has gone on and developed. From that $15,000, I
wouldn’t know the total number of
dollars he’s grossed from that family since he bought her as a heifer.
But I can guarantee it’s between
$1 million and $1-1/2 million, if not
more. That’s saying quite a bit.
It doesn’t all happen in a day. But
like I say, one good cow, I’d be
putting the embryos in all the
mediocre ones that you have.
17895 pounds
of raw ingredients go in.
17895 pounds
of TMR come out.
Is your mixer holding out on you?
Jay-Lor mixers have fast and easy clean out.
So you get every ounce of feed you need.
What are you doing now?
Still working full-time. We’re in
the standardbred business with my
youngest son. We race pacers and
trotters. We have a stud farm which
my son, David, runs. We bred 1,100
mares with 12 stallions this year.
Some stallions we lease, some we
are part owners, and some we own
100 percent. We use fresh-chilled
semen. We ship all over North
America — the East and West Coast
of Canada and in the U.S. We’re the
largest stud farm in Canada now.
We bred more mares than anybody
in Canada this year. And I think
we’re in the top three in North
America . . . now we’re probably second. We have brood mares. We’ve
bred a couple world champions, and
we sell yearlings.
So we do it all basically like we
did in the cow business except we
didn’t have a stud farm. Then we
sold our bulls to the A.I. units.
There’s lots of parallels in the breeding of horses that there were in cattle. We do a good job marketing and
use all the tools available to us.
At the 1981 World Dairy Expo,
Hanover Hill Holsteins had the
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th place
Aged Cows. Do you remember
those five cows?
The seventh place was the Gaydale Fury cow. Then there was Monitor Rachael, Standout Kandy, Triple
Threat Lulu, and Ormsby Prilly.
Rachael was named Grand and
Kandy was Reserve. That was something . . . I must say it was quite a
thrill. I don’t believe it has ever been
duplicated by any one herd again.
How did you find five showmen for them?
It’s never too hard to find good
showmen for good cows. Lowell
Lindsey and Mack Logan always
helped us. There were others. Back
in those days, we’d help show each
others’ cattle. We always had good
comradery. Guys were always more
than willing to help each other.
I’d say it’s a different ball game
today. I always hear these boys who
get on a strap and charge $200 to
$300 or more to show one. In all
the years that I ever showed cattle, I never took a dollar from anybody. I showed them because I
wanted to show them. I wanted to
help somebody. If I thought I could
help somebody, I would. I never
ever took a dollar for showing cattle for anybody.
P U T T I N G T H E T O TA L I N T M R
08/06-2487-02
(Continued from page EXPO 30)
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EXPO 61